The usual Palm Springs routine. I set the alarm for an hour before transition opened, and was there about 1:15 after I woke up. Killed :30 at the house. For HITS, there was no need to get there early since spots are numbered. At transition, I ran a little, got used to the s/b/r flow, and used all the tricks to stay warm: gloves, beanie, layers, wetsuit partway on, and swapped on the cap sandwich.

It was about 42F for the entire race!

Event warmup:

Before I left to get wet, I squeezed warm water into the wetsuit. The lake was still chilly, but I was wet long enough to feel good at the gun. I swam a few 50s.

Swim

12m 3s

650 yards

01m 51s / 100 yards

Comments:

I was a lot slower than I usually am in the water at Cahuilla. My sighting was off, but the swim felt good. The water was chilly, but I was wet long enough to feel good at the gun. I had my stoke and breathing the whole way. From swimming in the ocean at Avila, the water felt about 56 or 57, and I later heard that it had been 56 the previous day.

The RD had a deep water start, and evidently moved the course close to shore to improve emotional comfort level. It worked, I didn't see any freakouts, like I would have expected at a normal cold SoCal beach start. RD Mark did say that some people came close to cheating by running in the water close to shore.

What would you do differently?:

It's probably just that going to masters would take off a minute of two.

Definitely wear prescription goggles next time!

Transition 1

04m 59s

Comments:

79 o/a 4:59, 5/7 in ag

What would you do differently?:

I gave away a minute or more dealing with warm clothes. One small trick would have been to use plastic bags into the sleeves. I did notice that I ran well immediately out of the water for the first time ever, partly from better leg strength, partly because my new stride works with or without the magic Skechers.

Bike

36m 28s

12.43 miles

20.45 mile/hr

Comments:

My bike was in the top 10% in the field. I rode as hard as normal for the area, but the legs were cold the whole way, and I never felt like I had normal power. I got passed once near the turn down Jackson, but plucked off about 50 of the faster swimmers. The slow pace showed back to the lake, and did for everyone. The field was slow on both the bike and run.

I wore shoe covers, baggies and socks, but it wasn't close to enough. Swim booties might have helped.

I did see three people after they'd gone down - the cold made things worse than normal for these roads.

What would you do differently?:

not much

Transition 2

01m 24s

Comments:

22 o/a, 3/7. My improved run pace showed up here. T2 was okay. This is another place where the new run helps a lot!

Run

21m 34s

3.11 miles

06m 56s min/mile

Comments:

I finished in the top 17% in the field! The run was solid, as I'd hoped since I've been training seriously, but my feet were *cold*. I dumped the beanie and cycling jacket, and kept gloves and socks. The feet were so frozen, I thought I might have wads of socks or something I was running on, and was tempted to stop and check.

However, the run was solid, and about where I'd expected it to be in this field. Yay! It's a good step toward Oceanside.

I got passed once by my new friend Geoff from Cat City, who had a great run. Otherwise, I plucked off a few more people, something that's a new concept for me on the run!

Later, as I write this, I'm ready to do a long run, so I'm in better run shape than ever.